Council’s grass cutting “a disgrace”, says MSP

Following complaints from an increasing number of constituents arising from the lack of grass cutting in rural cemeteries, Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Alex Fergusson has written to D&G Council chief executive Gavin Stevenson asking that the policy be reviewed immediately.

Mr Fergusson said: “I understand that, as part of the budget agreement, cemeteries with less than two percent of the overall number of burials in the region will only have the grass cut three times a year and that the grass will simply be left to rot. Those with over two percent will be cut 15 times a year.

“This is not only discriminating against rural communities, which pay their council tax just the same as their urban counterparts, but it is a slap in the face for those with family members interred in those cemeteries.

“Not only that, but the increasing numbers of visitors who come to our region to research their ancestral history will be horrified trying to find their family headstones. It doesn’t take much imagination to realise that their impressions of our region will hardly be glowing.

“I have therefore written to the council’s chief executive asking that this policy be revised. Given the incredible growth of grass that we have seen during the month of May, I trust he will do so with some considerable urgency.”